


Crash and Burn

by tornadoarts



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, F/M, Haze is a gay disaster help her, I'd like to anyway, Jin isn't much better, i might make more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-05-02 03:52:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornadoarts/pseuds/tornadoarts
Summary: Jin, Haze, and Lora lose the last ounces of their patience as they navigate the hell that is Alrest High.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I can't promise anything good is going to come out of this. Also this is my first time writing anything, ever.

Being thrown into hot ashes would be more enthralling than this. 

Jin currently found himself in High School, capitalized for emphasis in his brain. This was probably going to be one of the greatest tests he would ever go through, as he passed through freshman girl crying in the hallway, sobbing for her lost relationship as if her very life was contingent on it. Jin wanted to tell her that it would be over eventually, but even someone as plain as he wasn’t that heartless.

He then passed by another girl with bright pink hair that he could probably see from space, talking to another with long, flowing hair who wore a fake tiara on her head. From the pieces he could hear, apparently, the two were genetically related. The blonde proceeded to yell about how she was going to fail Culinary (Jin was intrigued, as he is quite the cook) and even he admits that no one could possibly fail the class, in fact, he wondered why she would be taking it in the first place, if she complained about her failure. 

To complete the start to his strange morning, he passed a small boy in the hallway, with navy hair trimmed to perfection and a suit befitting of a king. Jin then watched the boy...no, man, go into the principal's office.

Currently, Jin found himself in the cold, uncomfortable desk seat of a classroom. He pondered his life choices for a second and wondered why he was even there, with a grey-haired man screaming to the other kids in the classroom over his eyepatch and making them guess what color was underneath. One rather plain-looking brunet boy looked so visibly annoyed, Jin was waiting for the moment where he would just drop his stacks of books on the floor and storm out of the classroom. 

Transferring from Torna was a mistake.

He was starting to space out until a little paper crane, folded to perfection, flew from behind him and sat in his lap, complete with a sticker of a pink orchid. He unfolded it, the paper folded with such care and precision.

Meet me in front of the drama classroom at lunch- Haze.

He looked about three rows behind him and he saw his friend, looking down at her paper as if she was desperately trying to conceal her crime. What did she want this time?  
________

Before meeting with Haze, first he had to conquer history, and his teacher was actually insane. He called himself Addam (he used his first name), in which he had a rather unique approach to lesson plans. He decided it would be better to “reenact” the day when Torna became an independent country, as opposed to a lesson where the teacher spoke plainly because apparently, that was too boring for this school. He did this along with his top hat and a fake mustache, as he said he couldn’t shatter his youthful appearance with facial hair. Of course, it would clash with his red hair accessories and golden cape. Jin never would have thought junior year history to be this involved. 

That’s when he saw someone. walk. in

As Professor Addam was interrupted by his winded speech on top of a chair, he chimed; “Oh, you’re here late. I would like to introduce you all to Miss Lora! She transferred from being homeschooled as of this year, so I hope you treat her well” he beamed, with a small look of pride in his face.

“So, tell us your name, favorite food, hobbies, anything you’d like to share” the man continued.

Lora hesitated a little, but she quickly recovered and faced her newfound audience flawlessly; “Oh...hello. My name is Lora. Just Lora. I hope I get to make good friends with all of you. I’m in junior year...like everyone here...oh no, am I doing the thing again”. She collected her thoughts for a minute. “I like ruby stew...buffoolo? And making crafts? And sports? I’m honestly quite boring” she exclaimed, her hands reserved against her back, with a slight bend to her frame. Her gaze quickly moved across the room, as if she was taking in details from everyone she looked upon. 

She was pretty much the most perfect being he has ever seen. Her hair was short and spiked upwards save for a long strand that flowed behind her back, complete with a bow. She had eyes so golden he felt as if the sun somehow decided to leap from the sky and have a presence in this classroom, making everywhere even the slightest bit brighter. She wore the uniform, complete with the little skirt and stockings rather well, even if the jacket was hanging off her arms. She looked as if she put about three minutes into getting ready this morning but that didn’t matter because she was-

“Beautiful…”

Luckily, Addam was ever the chatty one; “Jin. What’s the matter, my boy, you look like a wild armu caught in headlights. Now, can you please come to the front of the class, I need you to be my spotter just in case I fall down from this desk, or else Principal Hugo will be on my case again”. 

He couldn’t answer. Couldn’t do anything, His brain had no room for anything that wasn’t occupied by her face. Although, out of the corner of his eye, as he collected himself enough and started to move, he could see Lora, shyly moving through the classroom with her hands tucked at her front, coming to the conclusion to pick the empty seat next to the window, and right beside Jin’s desk.   
______

“JIN JIN JIN!!!”

Waiting by the drama classroom, Jin was greeted by a near-unrecognizable puff of brown hair, barrelling down the hallway with the speed of a sports car and the sound of a 747. His normally composed, quiet friend seemed quite frazzled by something. Although the minute she pulled up to greet him, she flattened her hair, fixed her long braids, and had a smile, as if nothing has ever happened. 

She was always terrible at lying, and this time was no different

Haze was slightly out of breath as she spoke; “So, how’s this new school treating you, Jin?”

“It has been pretty ok, English was kind of weird but I’m excited about hospitality next period. There was a new girl in my history class as well, I’m sure the teacher made her feel so embarrassed. What a man that guy is”, Jin responded, with his mind starting to think about her once again. He couldn’t use her name. He refused. Use her name and she would never leave his mind again. 

“Wait a second…did this girl have golden eyes with a long ponytail down her back”? Haze said, her face grew to a slightly brighter shade of pink.

“Yeah. Did you see her in your classes too-“

Jin was cut off by the very same subject of their conversation walking out of the drama classroom’s door, with both his and Haze’s minds playing the same event they were witnessing in slow motion. 

Just their luck.

The way her hair moved make her look as if she was straight out of a movie where multiple guys fought over the women’s attention, her skirt moved as if it was swaying along to a beat, her eyes were-

“Hey, I saw you two in my classes. Are you friends, I would have never guessed. Look at you, so different. My name is Lora, I hope we meet each other again”. She extended her hand, as if she wanted both of them to shake it, in the warmest, friendliest, inviting, and most immaculate way possible.

Shake...hand? Hand...shake? What did those words even mean? One could probably see the smoke emitting from the pair. 

Both Jin and Haze looked as if they were testing the water at a swimming pool, making sure it wasn’t too cold or too hot, but they, reluctantly, shook it. Jin focused on being as casual as possible, meanwhile, Haze seemed to have an iron grip, and as her hand met Lora’s, she looked straight into their eyes, light brown meeting gold. After she was done, Haze looked at the floor slightly, as if she needed to recharge before she could do it again. 

Both of their collective brainpower was spent. 

After she left, both friends looked at each other wordlessly, completely unaware that their own faces were just as red as the one they were looking at.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jin finally confronts that he has feelings like any normal person. Haze does the thing that is very typical of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my previous editors for looking at this again. You are helping to make this so much more fun. I hope this is an improvement!

Jin’s stay at Alrest High was a bit of a whirlwind, although not in the traditional sense. He went to school, went to class, and went home. End of day. Maybe he met up with Haze or went to the grocery store. His life did not have much variety, but he loved the consistency. 

But now, every moment of his life was occupied by her. 

Lora was ruining Jin’s life and she didn’t even know it. He was always a focused student, but he had no idea why he wasn’t focusing anymore. His schoolwork would suddenly turn into a series of random letters and numbers. His eyes would always draw near the window in that dreaded history class, where she would sit, and every time he saw her, he just wanted to sit down and talk to her, or run away, whichever gut feeling came first. He wanted to know everything about her and how it was possible that she could look so objectively flawless and have the perfect voice and mannerisms. By pure statistic, it was impossible for such a human to exist. 

He must be the unluckiest man in the world then. 

Jin had no idea why he thought these things. He couldn’t say he thought like this before. This couldn’t be normal. For one of the first times in his life, he had no idea what his own brain was doing. 

He wondered if Haze felt the same.  
________

Haze although, did have an idea how she felt. Jin had the density of a sack of bricks, she had come to that conclusion that Jin was unable to make a while ago, and if he felt the same, there was absolutely no way he could A: understand it, B: tell Haze, C: tell Lora. He was a lost cause. 

Every moment of Haze’s day was spent thinking about Lora too. Her hair was absolutely perfect, she always wore her clothes without a wrinkle despite how little physical effort she seemed to put into her appearance, and conducted herself in a way that Haze could just ignore. 

Curse her teenage brain. 

She always thought of Jin as well, and to be honest, she was used to it. Her brain was content, living in that realm of never confessing how she felt. But now she thought of Lora too, and how was she supposed to deal with that? 

“How is he supposed to know that he likes her? He can’t even read the room half the time, Architect help him” she muttered to herself, in a rush to get somewhere interesting. Think about Jin loving Lora and she won’t think about her loving Jin and Lora. Simple as that. Now she could focus on something else, and she was so excited. 

A few days ago, on a day where her mind seemed to have been getting accustomed to the school, Haze felt as if a piece of her life was missing. She had class, she had Jin. Although, the books were getting boring. She couldn’t care about Shakespeare plays no matter how interesting Jin said they were. She needed something different. Something to call her own. 

That’s it. She needed to join a club. 

Coincidentally, she saw a poster on a door near the cafeteria a couple of days ago, a little small and barely put at eye level, but done with artistic flair, as she was drawn to the pastel colors immediately. In big bold letters, (the only piece of the poster that used black in any capacity) it read; “Love YARN? Get bombin! Join the Yarn Bombers! Meetings Wednesday in the library!!!”. The three exclamation points were a little excessive, but nonetheless, the point was made, complete with small pictures of knitting needles and the yarn itself, for emphasis. 

This was literally the perfect club for her, she thought as she grazed the poster with her delicate hand, as if it was sacred and could not be touched by human hand. 

Now that it was Wednesday, she was approaching her first meeting, which she was extremely pumped about. She always considered herself quite reserved, but she could not contain her energy. She had a chance to show off what she was good at, and she was going to use it. New and improved, fierce, knitting god Haze. 

 

She was inspired to take up knitting when she and Jin were quite young. They both went to play outside like normal kids, but for a chunk of the time, Jin, for as quiet as he was, decided to be in the kitchen. For a guy of little emotion, Jin was the happiest making comfort food for others, it was one of the few things that got expressions out of him and Haze often felt envious. She wanted to do something impressive that made her content and gave others that same warm feeling Jin had whenever he made something unique for her, so she started to begin knitting. It was difficult at first, however, but she enjoyed the challenge. She had something in which she was at her best too, and within no time (and a few YouTube videos), her own projects lined her walls. They were private though, she never gave one to anyone. 

She hoped Jin was proud of her like she was proud of him. 

She didn’t have a chance to see the library yet, as school just started, and she couldn’t check out any books. When she made her entrance, her first thought was that the place almost had a homey, village look to it. The place was populated by greenery, they even had small trees in the middle, of varying types. The usage of wood carried throughout, with the reception, tables, chairs, and bookshelves all made of thick oak that contributed to the warm, fuzzy feeling she had by stepping into the space. The skylight at the top of the room bathed everything with the essence of the outdoors. She felt as if she was in Torna all over again. The endless plains of grass, the small quaint houses warmed by wood and fire, with her and Jin being some of the only kids for miles. That feeling of solitude, yet at the same time, having others nearby. 

 

She was going to like it here

“Oh, you came too! I love this place, it reminds me of home” a voice chimed from the other end of the room. 

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no

The redhead she literally just made a vow to not think about was right here. Right in front of her. With the same interest as her. This was a dream scenario disguised as Haze’s worst nightmare. Lora and Haze now had something to talk about. They could be friends and then maybe, just maybe…

Sorry, Jin. Haze’s high school love life brain space has a new resident.  
_______

Jin was lounging on a bench outside, his mind wandering to different places that he didn’t even know. He thought about Haze and Lora, again, because his brain seemed to have lost all capacity for being silent anymore. 

To be honest, people confused him sometimes. He knew he had a hard time understanding, he needed to know how he felt about Haze and Lora. Nothing was going to get this job done without asking questions and thinking about it. Haze hasn’t met him yet, she was still in the school...so should he...text her? Should he talk to her, once she returns? He’d talk to her. She was always the expert on this. She was always sensitive to how people were feeling when they were little. It was always her that would stop others from crying on the small schoolyard they attended when the other children shrieked over their bruised toes. Anyone could talk to Haze about everything, and they knew it. He loved that about her. Haze always called him quick with his words, but somehow, he could barely form any sentences to describe how he felt about her. Lora too. 

 

For one of the few times in his life, he found himself visibly frustrated. 

 

He picked up his phone to text Haze, the familiar object being foreign in his hand, not even thinking about what he would say, when his phone softly buzzed without his input, bringing him out of his thoughts: “I’m at knitting club, will be outside in 20 minutes!”, topped off with a small heart, classic Haze. 

She liked to knit, and so, she joined a club for it. She clearly seemed happy about it, and so, Jin was happy. Simple, nothing much more to it. This whole brooding session should be over. 

 

Although, his stomach felt fuzzy. He dreaded seeing Haze again, but how could he, she was his friend. Friends weren't supposed to feel that way about each other. These two conflicting ideas couldn’t find a home in his head, yet they stayed there, and for Jin, it was his nightmare. 

What would he say to her, Jin pondered some more, as the clock on his phone beside a plain screensaver of Tornan scenery slowly ticked closer to his demise.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jin has no idea what is going on anymore and acts to the bewilderment of himself. Haze treats relationships like a college football coach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WANTED TO UPDATE THIS SOONER! I have been gone at an art workshop for a week, and was celebrating MY BIRTHDAY! Anyway, a little short, and not SUPER proud but want to get this off my google drive. thanks for the feedback!!!

Haze opens the door to her home, moves up the stairs and flops on her bed, limp as a carrot.

What went wrong?

It churned her gut to think about it.   
_________ 

Her day started off great, her excitement for a new school activity quickly consumed her thoughts. Meeting Lora there stunned her, for longer than she was willing to admit. Although, she had a good time! It was awkward at first, but they quickly found something to talk about, knitting! Lora’s skills were pretty good, in the back of Haze’s mind, however, she knew that she had the smallest bit of an upper hand. Lora took notice of this, and she, without a hint of embarrassment, asked Haze for advice. A couple of hours were over quickly, and Lora quickly took up a larger portion of Haze’s thoughts the minute she left. 

When she returned to meet up with Jin to walk back home, he was acting the strangest she had seen in a while, even for Jin standards

She knew that he was quiet, but she could see the visible signs of frustration on his face. His hands were scrunched, and his feet shuffled with the pavement, making such a sound that Haze was allowed a peek of the obvious turmoil in his head. A rare moment where he was not composed.

She asked him a simple question; “So, how was your day?”

“Okay”, his eyes didn’t move to meet her, and he continued to stare at the sidewalk, but Haze knew nothing was interesting about it

“Anything happens?”, for once she had to look down to try to meet his eyes. 

He sighed, causing his massive mop of white hair to move with the wind. He paced away from Haze slightly, but his head stopped hanging downward, and his blue eyes met Haze’s golden. He looked...confused. With a hint of frustration. He was still slumped slightly, and his eyebrows were furrowed. 

This was so odd

“So...how do you feel about Lora? ”He finally asked her. This was the most complete sentence he said all day, and why did it have to be such a difficult question to answer? 

Haze had no idea how her face must have looked, but she hoped it wasn’t any shade of red. She tried to collect herself, tried to be the calm self that she was before she started school. When it was just her, Jin and no one else. This was a normal conversation. Her and Jin continued walking, turning down the quaint street Haze lived on. 

“She’s nice. Very nice. She was at knitting club, just so happened to be like that. I had a great time”. Of course, her mouth couldn’t stop, she had to continue blabbing about her. “She’s really smart too, I bet she could help me in English sometime”. She giggled. Oh no. “I don’t want her to put you out of a job though. No one can stop you there”. There. Finished. No more. 

Jin then took up the conversation. “Whenever I see her in class, I want to talk to her. I only talked to her a few times though. I don’t know what stops me. My stomach feels weird. Haze looked up at his face and could see it was a rather strong shade of red. Her face turned red in unison. 

“Anyway, I’m home. Text me later, okay.

“Okay,” he responded. His face didn’t meet hers, again.

________

Jin liked her. Simple as that. Confirmation of that fact didn’t make her feel jealous. Haze knew this would somehow happen at some time in her life, that’s what happened in every single bad teen romcom her and Jin watched in her basement at 3 AM. 

She needed to make him feel comfortable. Jin clearly looked like he was about to combust. Haze didn’t think her heart could take it anymore. Jin looked lost, he didn’t know what to do about this all. He didn’t understand his own emotions the way Haze did. Jin’s sheer honesty with himself may be his biggest enemy.

She needed a plan and he needed advice, and maybe, just maybe, she could catch herself a boyfriend in the process  
_______

Jin did what he always did. Go home, put his book bag down near the fridge, file through his papers and put aside the homework for the day. He sat at the kitchen table with a fresh mug of bitter tea, free of sugar and milk. He put the math equations out in front of him and picked up a pencil. 

Perfectly. 

Normal.

Day. 

Jin couldn’t think about what happened. He had a plan and he had no idea if it was successful. He knew Haze for years. Could talk to her about the slightest problem, no matter how trivial, and Jin didn’t even like to complain. Therefore, by logic, talking about Lora should be easy. He told the truth. He felt weird around her. He wanted to talk to Haze and Lora a lot, to spend time with them.

But why did he feel as if he felt he left something out of the conversation? His brain seemed to be missing a connection there, and for all the thinking he did, he could not justify why he felt the way he did all of a sudden. 

 

His hand slightly clutched the pencil he was holding a tad too much, and it started to bend. He looked down at his papers, and nothing was written on them, except that the square root of 45 was 55. Functions should be easy for him, but now, the numbers jumbled together, much akin to his own thoughts. His face grimaced at the thought that he was probably going to get nothing done tonight. 

He was burying himself in his own head, and he had no way to get out of it. This was too...dramatic for him. He had one true friend, one was all he needed. 

He knew that his apprehension was holding him back, and if he wanted to be friends with Lora, he needed to be...social. He needed to know how to talk to others. He needed some advice. He thought about what Haze would say. Sweet, wonderful Haze. 

He needed to take his fear and chuck it out his window.

He walked up the stairs to his bedroom window. In drama, he was always taught to visualize his actions. He liked the technique, so he took a small ball he would squish when he got too stressed off his nightstand. It was yellow. Much like their eyes. He moved his arm back and chucked the ball out the window, and it landed somewhere in the field behind his home. He didn’t care where. 

It was so unlike him to do something that daft.  
_______

Haze had a game plan. She was ready. It’s 12 am, and she could run a marathon.

She needs to make Jin realize how he feels. She could not be on unequal footing with him. It was making everything awkward. Transparency and honesty were key. 

And, she was something an expert in making people smile. 

She was going to be honest, her “game plan” was kind of a mess. It was simple yet had lots of room for error. She could speak to Lora at knitting club, that and she could use Lora’s twitter handle to contact her, even if Lora barely used it, and the only picture on it was a milkshake from three years ago.

She needed to get Jin and Lora in the same room at the same time, and she could lead the conversation better. Jin could essentially only realize how he actually felt on his own because if she outright said Jin loved Lora, it would be demeaning. That and she might as well be speaking in Tantalese. Jin’s knowledge of deeper human emotions had the volume of a kettle. 

“Haze, you got this”, she repeated to herself, finally shutting her nightlight off and passing out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for tolerating this! I hope to make more, but I am quite busy. Thank you to architect_N3j and HopeFeather for helping me out. Also read their fics and shower them with love and praise


End file.
